“I don’t want to f— a comedian.” – Patti Stanger
The Millionaire Matchmaker, Allison Baver & Adam Gaynor: client intros
“I’ve got a rock star,” Destin announces to kick off this edition of The Millionaire Matchmaker. “Adam Gaynor, formerly of Matchbox Twenty.”
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Gaynor was the guitarist for the pop/rock band who hit their peak in the mid-1990s. While you won’t find Matchbox Twenty on the best 1,000 albums ever, they had some hit songs that dominated commercial radio back in the day, such as “Push” and “3AM.”
“He’s a cool cat, he’s like 48 years old,” Destin continues. “I like him.”
Meanwhile, Rachel introduces Allison Baver, 31, “an Olympic bronze medal winner” in speed skating in 2010 who is currently in training for the next winter Olympics in Russia.
Via intro video, Adam Gaynor tells us that he’s from New York but currently lives “in a secret tree house” in Studio City in Los Angeles. He also feels that he’s an 18-year-old boy trapped in a 48-year-old man’s body.
“He’s so Jerry Seinfeld,” Patti responds with a highly concerned look on her face.
Adam’s ready to settle down and have a “soul mate life partner” and is open to dating someone with kids.
In Allison’s intro video, she talks about how she had pushed dating aside for much of her adult life due to her dedication to speed skating, but now she’s at a point where she’s ready for a serious relationship. She had been in a long-term relationship with fellow winter sports athlete Apolo Ohno, but it was “extremely dysfunctional” because they put their athletic careers first.
Patti’s take: Allison was too competitive with Apolo, which caused him to “not want to f— her anymore.” I have a feeling that Patti Stanger ain’t going to be winning any kind of feminism award anytime soon.
The Millionaire Matchmaker, Allison Baver & Adam Gaynor: Patti meets the clients
While Patti heads across town to meet Allison, we learn that she’s from Salt Lake City, Utah and that she’s aiming to partake in the Olympics for the fourth time in 2014. Her schedule is packed with training these days, so relationships are difficult. She’s also involved with an “activewear brand.”
Allison tells Patti that a “turning point” in her relationship with Apolo was when he participated on Dancing With the Stars but didn’t want her to sit in the audience to support him “because of his career.” Patti tells her that this is “unacceptable,” and it’s easy to agree with her there.
Patti assesses that Allison is a “competitive dater” and basically needs to lose her “competitive edge” when it comes to dating. She also wants Allison to allow the man she chooses at the mixer to plan out the date for her.
Patti then meets up with Adam Gaynor, who is producing music and is the founder of a company called Creationville, which makes creative products for kids. He also likes to joke around a lot, which Patti is not cool with.
She also wants to “tone down” his energy when it comes to attracting women. And at one point she chastises him, saying in the mode of a prospective girlfriend (presumably), “I don’t want to f— a comedian.”
Adam says he wants a “really wholesome” girl to settle down with, which Patti translates as someone who is done with the Los Angeles party scene.
The Millionaire Matchmaker, Allison Baver & Adam Gaynor: the recruiting session and mixer
Highlights of the recruiting session include:
- Patti asks Miles, a personal assistant, to take his “metro out of the equation” for the mixer in order to “butch-ify him.”
- Rachel asks another dude to show off his kung fu moves. He does, and claims he’s a black belt, but I remain skeptical.
- Rob is a good looking guy and personal trainer who has worked with Olympian athletes so he seems like a great potential match for Allison.
- Mario is a former pro baseball player from the Dominican Republic who played on the Boston Red Sox, so the recruiting team is doing its work with this episode. He’s a paramedic these days.
- Lisa is a private chef who is okay with older men so she’s a potential match for Adam.
- Shekiah grew up in an Amish community and Patti deems her “drop dead f—ing gorgeous.”
- Patti on Natalia’s shoes: “Burn ‘em burn ‘em burn ‘em.”
- Kathy is a photographer from New Zealand who has shot metal bands like Megadeth. Rock and roll.
At the mixer, Patti gets annoyed that Allison asks Rob the trainer how much he squats, assessing that she’s getting too competitive again for her liking.
For the mini-date round, Adam opts for Brandy, a talent manager, and Shekinah the former Amish gal. And Allison selects Miles, the “metro guy” and Mario the former Red Sox player. Patti, being Patti, deems Miles “too femme-y” for Allison.
Adam and Brandy talk TV, and he reveals that he’s into Hoarders, while Allison seems quite charmed by Miles’ hipster vibes. Shekinah talks about her Amish upbringing and how she wasn’t allowed to listen to “secular music” growing up, which Adam finds interesting. She also has a five-year-old daughter, which is a plus as Adam expressed interest in dating someone with a child.
For the final selections for the “master date,” Allison chooses hipster Miles and Adam goes for Shekinah. Patti doubles down on her disappointment at Allison’s decision to go “off the grid.”
The Millionaire Matchmaker, Allison Baver & Adam Gaynor: Allison and Miles’ first date
Miles has Allison meet him at the beach and greets her with “holla!” Hipster alert, y’all!
Allison, still enamored as ever, thinks that Miles and the whole beach set-up are completely adorable. They then attempt to fly a kite and have what I consider to be zero success. They seem to have fun though, while also seeming to ignore that it’s either a super overcast day, or incredibly smoggy (or both).
In the end, both Allison and Miles deem the kite to be “stupid.”
Stupid is as stupid does, as Forrest Gump would say.
Dinner is next, at a marina restaurant. Miles asks Allison about her athletic career and experience at the Olympics. Things get slightly awkward when Miles asks her about the kind of guys she has typically dated in the past, and it’s clear that he falls outside of that wheelhouse.
The Millionaire Matchmaker, Allison Baver & Adam Gaynor: Adam and Shekinah’s first date
Adam delights Shekinah straight off the bat by announcing that he’d like to center the date around making something for her daughter, Sophia. They then head into the Offrose Gallery, where they meet the director there, Carol Bodlander.
The creative project that they embark on – which ends up looking pretty cool – allowed the two to relax and get along comfortably. At one point, Adam remarks that he feels like they’ve been dating for a long time already. Adam comes across as having genuine depth and asks Allison how she handles being a single mother and also says that he’d enjoy getting to meet Sophia.
At an elegant looking restaurant later, Adam surprises Allison by having a string quartet play for them. Conversation then took an even more serious turn, covering family and aspects of lifestyle (Adam says it would be cool to enter a situation where he would have “instant family” with regard to Sophia). Allison did also seem surprised when she finds out that Adam is 48 but says that she’s not an “ageist.” And as it turns out, Sophia’s dad is 57.
The Millionaire Matchmaker, Allison Baver & Adam Gaynor: post-dates upshot
Patti and Rachel connect with Allison over a video call, who immediately relays that she has “a little bit of second thoughts” with regard to Miles. Patti is flat out rude about him, calling him “femme-y and flat” (and, later, “Gumby”) and chastises Allison for not choosing more athletic alternatives.
Destin and Patti then call Shekinah, who says that Adam is “different” because he came across as a “comedian” but says that she’s open to dating him again. Adam then stops by The Millionaire’s Club office, and Patti’s first question is whether he kissed Shekinah at the end of the date. Answer is no, was just a hug.
Patti then instructs Adam that while he should be himself when dating, he should “tone down the funny” and “be his sexy self too.”
The end of episode captions then tell us: “Adam and Shekinah are dating exclusively and continue to make music together. Adam is looking forward to meeting Shekinah’s daughter.” And: “Allison and Miles never saw each other again. She is back in Utah training for the Olympics, and a potential date with Mario.”
The Millionaire Matchmaker, Allison Baver & Adam Gaynor: where are they now?
It appears that Allison and actor Tommy Snider (known for playing Ernest Franklin a.k.a. The Beard Hunter on Doom Patrol) were involved at some point but split up at some point in the mid-2010s. As of 2019 she said that she’s “waiting on a higher love.”
Adam still has a presence at Creationville, “a multi-media platform meant to inspire people of all ages,” and is married to a woman named Meredith according to Getty Images.
Some stats and info about The Millionaire Matchmaker – Allison Baver & Adam Gaynor (“The Olympian and the Rock Star”)
TV SHOW – The Millionaire Matchmaker
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 6, Episode 11
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – Bravo
AIR DATE – March 23rd, 2013
GENRE – Reality TV, Dating Shows, Trashtastic TV
STARS – Patti Stanger, Destin Pfaff, Rachel Federoff, Allison Baver, Adam Gaynor
GOOGLE PLAY DESCRIPTION – These millionaires are both celebrities familiar with the public eye. Adam Gaynor, former guitarist for the band Matchbox Twenty, is looking for love. But after meeting Adam, Patti diagnoses him right away – he’s all about the jokes and uses laughs to deflect seriousness and intimacy. Will Adam follow Patti’s advice long enough for someone to really get to know him? Next up is Olympic Bronze Medalist speedskater Allison Baver. She’s been hurt by love in the past and is done with dating professional athletes like herself. Patti suspects Allison loves to compete, but doesn’t need her man also looking for the spotlight. Attracted to athletes, can Allison shift her focus and concentrate on finding someone right for a long-term relationship